Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Elder Nielsen with President Tilleman and his wife the day he arrived in Canada. He his currently serving in Abbotsford, BC a city of approximately 125,000 people. It is located about an hour southeast of Vancouver. His trainer is Elder VanFleet from Saratoga Springs, Utah.

We got to talk to Morgan for about an hour on Christmas day. He wasn't able to Skype, but it was still great to talk to him. He sounds really good!

We were out of miles on our car so we jumped on our bikes in the pouring rain and headed to an investigators house. After an hour we finally arrived at his house soaking wet, but he wasn't home so we rode back to our apartment in the rain. We waited for the rain to stop and then headed back out the door. We hadn't gone a mile and got a flat tire on the bike so we decided to walk. We ended up walking about 8 kilometers (just under 5 miles) that day. It is so frustrating because no one wants to hear our message. The next day we decided to walk to Walmart. We walked about 30 minutes and asked someone at the gas station how much further to Walmart, she said about 5 minutes. We ended up walking almost 4 hours by the time we made to Walmart and back to our apartment. We walked another 10 kilometers that day.

Saturday we thought there was a baptism so we filled the font then realized later the baptism wasn't until Sunday. What a disappointment. That night we also discovered we really did have miles left on our car so all that time we spent walking and biking earlier in the week we could have been driving. Well at least we got a great workout having walked almost 18 kilometers in two days. My legs were so sore I could hardly move.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Thanks for all your love and support.

Friday, December 13, 2013

I'm so blessed and grateful to be on a mission. It is hard, I get frustrated, and I miss my family and everything in the world, but I know this is what I need to be doing. I feel like I don't know anything about the Gospel then I remind myself that Dane didn't know anything either and it doesn't just happen over night. The first few days at the MTC were really long and I prayed and prayed for peace and comfort. On Sunday I received the peace I needed and it was amazing. I'm just trying to enjoy everything life has to offer because I know this will be over someday and I will think were did that time go, so I might as well enjoy it. I have to keep telling myself that this isn't about me it is about the people I will be serving in Vancouver. That's what really helps me feel better.

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Today was the day we have always hoped for, but selfishly dreaded because it is hard saying goodbye for 2 years. We know Morgan is where he needs to be and will blessed for his service. The people of Vancouver are so lucky to be getting Elder 'Morgan' Nielsen.